Traveling Back (closed for KiwiD82)

The professor's calculations were correct. Or so he thought. Katie Lane couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. The professor had gone home, leaving her to clean up the lab and secure the place. Time and again, she passed by his board and was constantly bothered by that one bit of mistake she felt was there.

Unable to hold herself back any longer, she copied the equations on a piece of paper and made her adjustments. The final result was leaps and bounds away from the professor's initial findings.

Sighing, she let it go. She wasn't the genius who came up with this. She wasn't even going to come up with anything remotely similar left on her own.

As she passed the devices, the temptation flared again. A little adjustment wouldn't hurt, would it? Besides, she could turn it back to its original. It was only going to be one little test. And if she was right, she could tell the professor without any reservations. She might even be up with him for a Nobel Prize. Which was going to be amazing for her. No one would see her as just another brainless pretty face. She was going to prove that a slim waist, a sizeable bust, dark hair and blue eyes did not mean she was just another one of those who worked their way up with charm and not brains.

Finally giving in, she adjusted and tweaked the device and with a huge breath, turned it on. Nothing happened. Sighing, she put the device back and picked up her things, hanging her lab coat in the rack, leaving her in a blouse and pencil skirt. She memorized the calculations on the board and went back to the device to turn revert it back, but before she could, the pen-like device in her hand seemed to throb, and the next thing she knew, she was falling through the night sky. The building and all the floors leading up to the seventh floor and above were gone.

Before she could scream, pain shot through her head and everything went black.

1651. Outskirts of London.

Sir Ranulph was growing weary from a long ride. It had been days since he'd left Somerset in shame, his properties previously granted to him by the King seized by force and without right.

The claim Lord Bockham had presented was clearly a fraud, but convincing his household of that had been much harder than he'd expected.

And so, ousted and alone, Ranulph had left his lands a homeless man, making his way to the capital to plead the King's justice. He was confident that the very monarch who had bestowed these lands upon him would see Bockham's treachery for what it was and ensure that he was punished accordingly.

Ranulph was young for a land owner - in his mid-20s, he had earned his properties through serving his country and his King in battle. The civil war had dragged on but Ranulph had always shown courage and leadership when it mattered most.

Being on his own, he had been careful to ensure he wore his armour. The roads were known for bandits and he didn't want to be unprepared if he was to receive more bad fortune.

Feeling his legs beginning to ache, the tall knight eased back on the reigns with the intention of stopping for a rest. His dark brown hair moved gently in the breeze, matching in colour the stubble on his chin that he hadn't had time to shave.

Steel grey eyes were looking ahead for a place to rest when he heard a noise from above. Looking into the sky, Sir Ranulph saw a swirling of clouds, and then a beam of light from the heavens that pointed down somewhere ahead of him, but out of sight because of the trees.

A moment later, he saw a shape; a shadow fall from the sky. He fought to control his whinnying horse as the dark figure followed the beam of light.

And then, in a moment, the light was gone.

"What sorcery is this?" he wondered allowed, before regathering his senses and determining to investigate.

Digging his heels into his steed's sides, and drawing his sword for protection, the armoured figure led his horse at a gallop down the road, bearing down on where the light and shadow had both landed.

Katie's vision was fuzzy. Even worse, she saw no lights. She felt prickling all over her and a little bruised, but otherwise, she was fine. Slowly, her vision came into focus and, looking up, she saw the skies, clearer than she had ever seen them as the clouds slowly dispersed.

"So many stars..." she muttered to herself.

Slowly, the prickling was becoming as annoying as they were painful and she realized she was in a clump of bushes. She struggled to get out, the branches scratching at her and her clothes, causing unwanted tears in some places. Soon, she got herself out, but not without leaves and branches stuck to her hair and clothes.

Katie looked around her dumbfounded. "Something tells me I'm far away from home..." Then she gasped, remembering the device. She went about the bushes trying to find it, but she was looking in the opposite direction. Where the device lay was with her purse. In it were her wallet, a planner, several pens, a notebook with so many notes and calculations, sunglasses, a phone, a calculator, several sheets of documents, a lipstick, powder, and hidden inside one of the pockets, was a dildo she kept away from her too-curious roommate.

Ranulph rounded the corner, expecting to see some kind of demon or hideous creature, but at first he saw nothing. He pulled back hard on the reigns, horse hooves sliding to a halt, a small cloud of dirt rising up.

Contrasting the sudden silence of the hooves, he heard a rustling in the undergrowth, and he quickly dismounted, sword still in hand.

He stepped forward, feeling something under his foot and looking down. He saw a bag unlike one he'd ever seen before, and he scooped it up with his non-sword arm without looking at its contents.

The rustling continued, and Ranulph strained his eyes, eventually making out the outline of a very attractive backside among the bushes.

"Milady?" he asked, sword fearfully pointing in her direction. "Do you require assistance?"

Katie was so concentrated on looking for her things that she didn't hear anyone approach. It wasn't until he spoke that she realized she wasn't alone. Startled, she straightened. Her hair was a mess and parts of her blouse had come untucked from her skirt.

Turning to the man, she blinked trying to make out the shadowy figure under the light of the moon alone. He approached closer and her jaw dropped at the sight of him. "Okay, sword down! Am I in some Renaissance fair or something? Cause you have some serious authen--oh! There it is! Thank you, thank you so much for finding it for me. Can you please give it to me and I'll be on my way. And if you could kindly point me toward the city, that'd be awesome!"

Part of her was afraid that she was long gone from home. The device was supposed to help people travel faster. The question was where was she?

Ranulph studied Katie as she spoke. Her speech was fast, and she had an accent. And now she was trying to get the bag back from him.

The knight paused, contemplating what to do. Clearly the bag was of great value to her. If she could fly through the sky, perhaps she had other powers. Would he be cursed for using witchcraft to secure the return of his lands?

"Milady, London is another half day's ride in that direction," he said, pointing further down the road with his sword, "and I am on my way there myself. You may accompany me if you wish. But I cannot give this bag to you until I know your intentions. What sorcery was it that brought you here?"

Katie opened her mouth to speak, but shut it. He was speaking like someone from a historical novel, taking his cosplay to the extreme. And sorcery? Well, she had one explanation for that one.

"Sir," she decided to play along. "I shall not accompany you. And as for my intentions, I only intend to go home. Now may I please have my purse so I can get my sorcery from there and be off your sight."

She didn't want to be stuck with a weirdo like him. And considering she was alone, it was actually pretty dangerous to be with a man who wasn't right in the head with a sword and a horse. Can't outrun him. Can't fight him. She shouldn't have left her pepper spray back home!

Sir Ranulph scoffed at the woman's impertinence. Just who did she think he was, to think she could instruct a knight of the realm?

The knight was an adherent of chivalry, but not to witches who thought they had a right to tell him what to do.

He had half a mind to demand to know who her lord was, but knowing his luck, she probably would have said Bockham.

Her mention of sorcery did make him pause, however. In fact, that was the only reason he didn't simply ride off with her belongings.

Perhaps she could help his cause - but only if he was more friendly...

"Where is home, milady?" he asked, convinced that her accent meant she was from some foreign land.

Now, he was asking her where her home was. He didn't trust him. Not one bit. Not in his strange outfit and demeanor. What if he was some whack job who would break in her home and steal stuff. Not that her high roommate would mind. She looked at her watch. Yep. She was going to be high at this hour.

"Half a day's ride away," she said taking her cue from his language. "So would you please give me my things back? I really need to get back home. And if you could point me to the nearest bus stop, that would be awesome."

Somewhere in the back of her mind though, she knew there was something wrong and it scared her, but she didn't want to show her gnawing fear. Somehow, she thought that this place wasn't just half a day's ride away from where she lived.

Unfortunately, there was no one who could point her in the right direction and this strange guy was the only hope she had of ever getting home. If he wasn't a serial killer who would strangle her out in the middle of nowhere.

Ranulph was – in a word – perplexed.

The woman before him was certainly pleasing to the eye, despite her foreign and unusual choice of clothing. And he admired her fighting spirit, even if she did seem to think she could demand of him anything she wanted.

But he couldn’t make head nor tail of what she was actually saying. He wasn’t sure if it was some bizarre incantation of a witch, or the mindless babbling of the village idiot.

Despite his better judgment, he hoped it was the former. If she had powers, she might be of assistance in his time of need. And so he persisted…

”Then you must be from London,” Ranulph replied to her, certain that no other noteworthy town was quite so close. ”I insist on accompanying you there, milady, for the roads are still not safe. I plan to speak with the king himself.”

He paused, looking at her with a furrowed brow.

”But it is getting late, and it may be better to set up camp for the night,” he continued, before adding almost as an afterthought: ”And I have no idea what a ‘bus stop’ is.”

King? Roads not safe? SET UP CAMP???

She looked around and started to worry. He wasn't even giving her things back and she needed her phone badly. Just to tell someone that she was still alive, at least...or to tell everyone her location via GPS and probably help her out, or at least know where her body would be and take a photo of her would-be killer.

Although, maybe being killed was the least of her concerns. He had a sword and a horse. If he wanted to kill her, he would already have done it.

"Okay, okay, take me there, but please, please may I have my things?" She pleaded as cutely as she could, batting her eyelashes at him as she came toward him. "Please, sir...uh. Oh! I'm Katie. And you are?"

Ranulph looked her up and down once again.

Whoever this vixen was, she didn't appear to be dangerous. Unusual, certainly, and contrary to social norms, but she didn't seem to have hexed him so he reluctantly handed her purse back to her.

"Very well," he replied. "I shall take you to London."

He sheathed his sword, but kept his hand close in case he had to make use of it in the immediate future. He paused, admiring her beauty for a few moments before dismounting.

"I am Sir Ranulph, on my way to see the king to have my lands returned to me after they were unjustly taken from me."

He took his horse by the reigns, then started to seek out a suitable place to set up camp.

"Tell me, Katie - how have you found yourself so far from home with nobody to protect you?"

Katie sighed in relief as she got her purse back. She fished out the device and turned it on, but it didn't work. The battery was drained. She nodded absently as Ranulph spoke and fished out her phone. Her mouth hung finding no service and groaned as even the phone displayed nothing even via GPS and satellite.

"No! This can't be..." She looked up at Ranulph trying to remember what he just said. Unjustly taken lands...huh?

"Oh, uh, this." She showed her device. "But it ran out of power. Can you tell me exactly where I am? And what's going on so far?"

Part of her was still skeptical, but there was a possibility that she had time traveled. If that was the case, she was truly in trouble.

Ranulph didn't answer right away, as he paused to reassess the situation.

Before him stood Katie, a lone traveller in unfamiliar clothing and with little understanding of standard customs. The only explanation that made any sense to Ranulph was that she was from some distant land.

"We are in England, milady, near London. The Roundheads and Cavaliers continue their civil war and Charles II is our king...for now, anyway."

He paused, sighting a suitable location to set up camp.

"Ah, this will do nicely..."

Ranulph led his horse to a small clearing a short distance away from the road, tying its reigns to an overhanging tree branch. Then he reached into the horse's saddle bag and pulled out some dry bread and offered some to Katie.

"I don't suppose you have food in that bag of yours...?"

Katie's mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to say anything. What on earth were Roundheads and Cavaliers? And Charles II? King? Either he was more sick in the head than she first thought or her device had let her travel back in time instead of through space. And as of the moment she was more willing to believe the former, even though her phone suggested evidence that there was not even satellite technology present.

She stared at him looking so comfortable about staying out, and strangely prepared. He offered her food and it was as she imagined in her fantasy books. Dry bread. Maybe he also had those dried meats?

She shook herself mentally and accepted the bread.

"No. I didn't think I'd be travelling. Thank you." She sighed and turned the torch on her phone, emitting a bright circle of light around her. If she was going to sleep on the ground, she might as well make sure she wasn't sleeping on any bugs or ant paths.

Ranulph had come to the conclusion that, for all her oddities, Katie was harmless. Yes, her mannerisms were unconventional, and her equipment seemed foreign, but she no longer posed the threat he had initially thought she might.

But she clearly did use magic. Her ability to cast light upon the ground at night had him staring in wondrous silence for several minutes as she found a place to rest.

"M-Milady...that light...how does it work?" he finally asked, his mouth agape.